IN THE SECOND installment of the PCIJ’s four-part report on the self-appointed perks and privileges of the “Gods of Padre Faura,” the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism looks at how special and redundant allowances and honoraria bloat the take-home pay of the justices of the Supreme Court.

More tellingly, this story by PCIJ Executive Director Malou Mangahas shows how sundry allowances, bonuses, and fringe benefits of the Supreme Court justices had not been not taxed — a matter that had been verified in the case of impeached chief justice Renato C. Corona.

This is according to the reports submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue by the high court’s finance and accounting office. But the situation seems to linger still for the most senior justices of the land who continue to receive an excess of extra pay, while other public officials and employee who don’t get as much, fork out more of their hard-earned money to the taxman.